Famous Artist’s Favorite Paintings: Lucian Freud on Titian’s “Diana and Actaeon” and “Diana and Callisto”

“How is it that these paintings, which are as effortless as Matisse, affect you more than any tragedy? Everything they contain is there for the viewer’s pleasure. It hardly matters what is going on. The water, the dogs, the people, though they are involved with each other, are there to please us. To me, these are simply the most beautiful pictures in the world. Once you’ve seen them you want to see them again and again.” Lucian Freud

Titian, “Diana and Callisto”

Lucian Michael Freud, (8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time.His works are noted for their psychological penetration, and for their often discomfiting examination of the relationship between artist and model.